A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates most generally to the field of cooking apparatus and heating ovens and more particularly to an electrostatic oven and an electrical field generating arrangement provided within an oven to improve the overall efficiency of the cooking process by improving the heat transfer to articles within the oven.
B. Description of the Prior Art
In cooking apparatus, it is desirable to increase the efficiency of the cooking process both as to the cooking time for a particular comestible or article and as to the energy to accomplish the cooking process. In a conventional electrical oven configuration, thermal energy generated, for example, from a thermostatically controlled heating element is transmitted by conduction and convection to the comestible article being cooked. During the cooking process, it has been found that a thin insulating stagnant layer of air adheres to or surrounds the article. This stagnant layer of air reduces cooking efficiency by increasing the thermal path resistance to the article.
While various oven configurations of the prior art are generally suitable for their intended purpose and have been proposed to increase efficiency and reduce cooking times, they are either more expensive than conventional ovens as is the situation regarding microwave (electromagnetic radiation) ovens or require increased energy consumption and/or undesirable components to improve cooking times. For example, a circulating fan may be utilized in a conventional oven with a thermostatically controlled heating element to remove the stagnant insulating layer surrounding the article being cooked. However, the fan requires additional energy and presents a complex problem concerning the direction and quantity of air flow to remove the insulating layer. Further, the forced air cooking process does not result in a substantial reduction in cooking time. Fans are also a maintenance problem and considered undesirable in many applications.
Many arrangements of the prior art have been proposed to increased energy transfer to or from fluids and in heat exchanger apparatus by the use of an electrostatic field. Typical of this heat exchanger apparatus are U.S. Pat. Nos.: 3,370,644 which issued to W. B. Dailey et al on Feb. 27, 1968; 2,605,377 which issued to W. L. Kaehmi et al on July 29, 1952; 3,794,111 which issued to O. C. Blomgren, Sr. et al on Feb. 26, 1974; 1,980,821 which issued to K. K. Palueff on Nov. 13, 1934; 1,835,557 which issued to S. P. Burke on Dec. 8, 1931; 3,629,584 which issued to O. C. Blomgren, Jr. on Dec. 21, 1971; 3,747,284 which issued to F. J. Lyczko on July 24, 1973; 3,578,072 which issued to H. H. Kolm on May 11, 1971; 3,771,233 which issued to P. French et al on Nov. 13, 1973; and 3,056,587 which issued to K. H. Steigerwald on Oct. 2, 1962. While the above arrangements are useful in increasing energy transfer in heat exchanging applications, they do not provide apparatus or a method for improving the efficiency of a cooking process and reducing cooking time.